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MANY FAILURES IN THE IRISH CAMPAIGN

"The Germans have been in Ireland nearly a month now and it has become painfully obvious that the government's handling of the situation has been a failure. Not only has the government failed to destroy the invasion force as promised in the Prime Minister's famous Fortnight Speech, it has allowed the Germans to reinforce it. The government has told us repeatedly that the liberation of Limerick was imminent and yet the enemy remains ensconced there. While the Royal Navy did manage to win a modest victory over the German battle fleet in the Celtic Sea the unpleasant fact of the matter is that they were unable to prevent the Germans from reinforcing their invasion force in Ireland. Compounding the crisis the invasion has fomented a Fenian uprising that has plunged much of Ireland into chaos. Admittedly General Hamilton did finally overpower the rebellion inside Dublin, but there are signs that the rebels are continuing to fight on elsewhere. They even have significant presence in a corner of Ulster now.

While the British public resoundingly supports the prime minister's tough line towards obvious treason in Ireland, they are quickly becoming disillusioned with the results of the Irish campaign to date. Criticism of the government within Parliament waned last week after news of the naval victory in the Celtic Sea but if the government cannot show genuine success on the ground as well this week a vote of no confidence is a very real possibility." -----The Times of London Sunday May 23, 1915

------outskirts of Wicklow town 0005 hrs May 23, 1915

Major Rommel suppressed the urge to yawn. He felt very fatigued but he was determined not to show it as he met with Cathal Brugha, the commandant of the 4^th Dublin Battalion. "Have you eliminated the remaining pocket of enemy resistance here?" Rommel asked.

Brugha had expected that question, and replied cautiously, "Uh, not yet major. We did whittle them down some but this bunch is being very stubborn. However come morning we shall take care of them. You have my word on that."

Part of Rommel felt like yelling but he did not have the strength to yell at this time. Instead he shook his head and sighed deeply with obvious disappointment. "See that you do," he ordered sternly, "but there is something else of greater importance that I have come here to discuss. Did you station a half company at Killoughter to guard against attacks from due north as I had ordered?"

"Yes, major, I have half of the 2^nd company dug in there."

"Good. I want that half company to march north as rapidly as possible and attack Greystones, preferably before dawn. There is a small company of Irish Volunteers with Greystones as their HQ. Pearse was very disappointed that they did not come to his aid during the Dublin Rising. Recently two members of Greystones Company joined Dublin Brigade. They tell us a story that sounds vaguely familiar. The R.I.C. arrested the company commandant and confiscated nearly all their firearms back in April. After that no one stepped forward to take command of the company even though they were steadily growing with the addition of disaffected Redmondites. If we can reach Greystones I am sure we can quickly absorb nearly all of that company. Our weapon situation has improved with the rifles we captured from the Royal Scots Fusiliers. We should now be looking to expand to our size."

"What if my men encounter resistance, major?"

"That will depend on how much resistance. They will very likely encounter a roadblock manned by the R.I.C. before they reach Greystones. Hopefully that will not be too strong so they should be able to overwhelm the constables without too much trouble. Now if they encounter a very large force of constables or regular soldiers then they should pull back. I want you to send the rest of the 2^nd company following behind them in case they do run into trouble. One thing I need to emphasize is they should try to avoid using the coastal road by daylight. In most places it is dangerously exposed to any British warships that might be patrolling off the coast."

"Yes, major, we have already been shelled twice here in Wicklow."

"Even at night it is not completely safe, but we have a fairly heavy cloud cover tonight and the moon will be setting soon. However even then there is the small but not insignificant risk of British warships close offshore using searchlights. Certain stretches of the coast will offer cover against this while others will be exposed. They should cross the latter as quickly as possible and avoid doing anything that might attract the attention of a British warship. Is that clear?"

"Yes, major, I will spell this out in my orders. And if my men do take Greystones and absorb the local Irish Volunteers, what should they do next?"

"Remain at Greystones and await further orders."

-----HQ British Ireland Command Curragh (Kildare) 0015 hr

General Hamilton and his chief of staff, General Braithwaite, had been moderately encouraged by what they were hearing from General Wilson, the commander of VI Army Corps, in the last few hours. The news about the initial success of the West Riding Division in the Broadford Gap gave them some hope that they would finally be inside Limerick city in the morning. General Wilson also placed a great emphasis on the 11^th (Northern) Division being able to hold its position in the face of determined enemy attacks. General Wilson had barely mentioned the Lowland Division being forced to bend its right flank way back and the problems that was causing.

A few minutes earlier General Hamilton had talked with General Maurice, the commander of the Northern Region. This conversation was more disturbing. A sizable rebel force remained in the middle of County Tyrone, cutting the important rail line between Omagh and Enniskillen. Sir Ian felt that it was important to prevent the rebel force from penetrating still deeper into Ulster where it could disrupt heavy industry. He ordered that the 1/7^th Battalion Highland Light Infantry be told to move around the rebels and reinforce Omagh from the west. General Hamilton was also unhappy to learn from General Maurice that the tactical situation at Athlone had degenerated into a standoff on account of the bands of rebels at Longford and Mullingar cutting the line of communications of the British forces as well as threatening to attack from the rear.

As General Hamilton discussed these developments with his chief of staff, a telephone call came in for him from General Lowe, the commander of Eastern Region. "General Hamilton, I have just received word from the 8^th Royal Irish Rifles that their vanguard came under heavy enemy fire, incl. machineguns, as they approached Laragh. That battalion was forced to fall back to the north to camp until first light. The strength of the rebels in this action only serves to accentuate my concern about the fate of the missing Royal Scots Fusiliers."

"So I take it that you still have no intelligence whatsoever about the 1/5^th Royal Scots Fusiliers?"

"That is unfortunately true, sir."

"And is the commander of the 8^th Royal Irish Rifles, absolutely certain that it was rebels and not dismounted Hungarian Hussars he was fighting?"

"Uh, his message said rebels not Hungarians, sir, but in the dark it is very possible that he was confused. Then again, perhaps it is a mixture of both that he encountered. That would explain the machineguns."

"Hmm. Is the 8^th Devonshire still going to try to retake Arklow all by itself early tomorrow?"

"That is correct, general. If the most or all of the Hussars are at Laragh as you suggest, then it could make things easier for the Devonshires."

"Perhaps but cavalry have a way of moving quickly when the need arises. Retaking Arklow with its munitions plant remains a very high priority. The Royal Irish Rifles need to keep whatever forces they encountered near Laragh busy so the enemy cannot reinforce Arklow. This is even more important that trying to rescue whatever is left of the 1/5^th Royal Scot Fusiliers."

------HQ British 11^th (Northern) Division north of Ballyneety (Limerick) 0020 hrs

News that his line had been breached to the west of Ballyneety had worked its way to General Hammersley, the commander of the 11^th (Northern) Infantry Division. He now learned that the initial counterattack had failed as well. Even though the Bavarian Jaegers were still pinned down along the narrow dirt roads still further west, General Hammersley hastily concluded that his defensive position was now compromised with a high risk of his forces at Ballyneety being enveloped and possibly trapped before dawn. The general ordered Ballyneety abandoned with the entire front of his division to pull back to a line almost 2 miles to the north. This was the withdrawal he had wanted very much to make since the late afternoon. Only after this maneuver was well underway did he notify General Wilson at HQ VI Army Corps.

------Queenstown (Cork) 0050 hrs

General Hermann von François demanded to see the acting base commander for Queenstown. "And how can I help you, Your Excellency?" asked the base commander

"I will be meeting with Admiral von Ingenohl soon. I do not want any portion of the 183^rd Infantry Brigade offloaded until after that meeting."

The base commander was surprised by this request and after a few seconds asked, "Uh, is it that you wish other units to be landed before---"

"---No, no, no!" interrupted the general, "I do not want so much as a single soldier belonging to the 183^rd Infantry Brigade landed until I tell you otherwise. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Your Excellency, very clear."

-------SS Prinz Friedrich Wilhelm Haulbowline Island (Cork) 0055 hrs

Meanwhile the Prinz Friedrich Wilhelm was one of the first transports to unload. The former ocean liner had been modified by the Kaiserliche Marine. The most important alteration was. expanding her cargo holds. For her current mission she had been loaded at Wilhelmshaven with 890 30.5cm shells, 380 28.1cm shells, 1,700 15cm shells, 1,500 8.8 cm shells and 45 torpedoes. The ammunition was to be unloaded and transferred to the High Seas Fleet today to replace some of what had been expended at Celtic Sea. Some of the torpedoes would be kept for the U-Boats.

Also aboard the Prinz Friedrich Wilhelm was the 5^th OKW Landsturm Battalion. Back in December after the Battle of Dogger Bank, the newly formed OKW demanded troops be temporarily removed from the Heer to work in the shipyards to expedite the repair of the High Seas Fleet. General von Falkenhayn tried to argue that this should be done solely with Landsturm. Tirpitz had replied that men in the Landsturm were for the most part not well suited for shipyard work and could therefore only be part of the solution. In the end certain recently formed reserve and Landwehr divisions were temporarily held back from the front for a while with some of their men used in the shipyards. However a dozen battalions of Landsturm were put under the permanent command of OKW. These battalions were used more than expected with the result that the most of the men were being used at the shipyards constantly. The twelve battalions were eventually consolidated into eight so that the officers and senior NCO's could be used elsewhere.

Once most of the ships damaged at Utsire had been repaired the workload at the shipyards became less frantic. Some of the soldiers were returned to their battalions, where they received additional training orchestrated by OKW. When sending the second wave was finally approved, a member of the OKW suggested sending one of the OKW Landsturm battalions in the fourth wave for rear area guard duty. (The 5,300 American volunteers being escorted by von Spee's Atlantic Squadron was officially labelled as constituting the 'third wave'. The fact that the 'fourth wave' had arrived in Ireland before the 'third wave' was causing some confusion and not just among the Germans!) Tirpitz approved the idea and selected the 5^th OKW Landsturm Battalion because it had the greatest current strength which was increased to more than 80% by hurriedly removing still more of its workers from the 'yards. These were loaded aboard the converted liner along with the naval ordnance. They were provided only 6 mules as draught animals and a bare minimum of supplies.

-----near Jaroslaw (Galicia) 0145 hrs

Yesterday after some fairly heavy morning rain, a fierce artillery duel developed in the early afternoon between the Austro-Hungarian Fourth Army and the Russian Third Army. The Austro-Hungarians eventually prevailed due to their much greater quantity of heavy artillery. As a result of that their IX Corps was able to expand its position on the east bank of the San and now controlled most of the city of Jaroslaw. As soon as it was dark the corps bridging pioneers hurriedly constructed a new pontoon bridge over the river. Though the water level had risen as a result of yesterday's precipitation it was still not very wide in this spot and the bridge was now complete. Trucks carrying supplies roared over the bridge and before additional artillery pieces were brought across as well.

------Noyelles-sur-Mer (Picardy) 0210 hrs

With Sir John French still having only food and fodder to send him, General Haig, the commander of First Army decided to send 4,000 more of his wounded back through the narrow bottleneck during the night. About half of these came from the Indian Corps. Most of the rest came from the 6^th Infantry Division. Men who were very lightly wounded and expected to return to duty in the near future were not included. The Germans as usual periodically sprayed the road with shrapnel shells in the vicinity of Morlay and Noyelles-sur-Mer using batteries of 7.7cm field guns they had registered on the road at dusk. These random bursts did not shut down the road completely but they slowly bled the A.S.C. companies that brought supplies to First Army each night. Now they were also hurting the evacuees as well as the medics that tended.

The Indian wounded and British wounded found themselves intermixing during this perilous trek to safety, esp. during one of the German shellings when everyone dove into the trenches dug along the side of the road to offer some protection. The British soldiers were dismayed by the poor morale they now observed among the Indians, who had been zealous about fighting in the war when they arrived in France late last year. The deterioration of morale had multiple causes. A cold debilitating winter in the trenches was one of the more important ones. The many hardships that the First Army had endured in the last month was another. Most of the Indian wounded were unhappy with the fact that if and when they fully recovered from their wounds they would be returned to the front line.

------IRT Eion MacNeill 0545 hrs

Lookouts aboard the armed trawler of the I.R.N now spotted a vessel approaching from the south. As the wireless operator notified the High Seas Fleet the trawler cautiously intercepted the ship which they stopped and inspected. She turned out to be a Spanish flagged merchantman with a cargo of horses, which the captain claimed had been purchased by the Germans for delivery to Ireland. Haulbowline confirmed this. The freighter was permitted to continue on to Queenstown.

------HMS Iron Duke west of Isle of Islay 0610 hrs

The battle squadrons of the Grand Fleet along with their screen continued to cruise off the Isle of Islay. The 1^st Light Cruiser Squadron had been sent to patrol off the Isle of Man while the 2^nd Light Cruiser Squadron was on station off of County Mayo.

"One of our submarines torpedoed one of their troopships yesterday, sir," Admiral Madden informed Admiral Bayly, "It would have make things easier for General Hamilton if she had sunk quickly taking her soldiers with her but N.I.D. now tells us she is believed to have made it to Kinsale."

Bayly shook his head slightly and snorted before he replied, "Of course it would have made things easier for us if that submarine had been able to torpedo a German capital ship instead."

"Sir, we both know that it is hard for submarines to get into an effective firing position when warships are approaching at high speed and making frequent zigzags. Moreover the presence of a large screen makes it still harder as it forces the approaching submarines to submerge earlier."

"I already know all that," grumbled Bayly, "Tell me something I don't know. Like when do we expect the Isle of Man packet ships to arrive at Londonderry."

"Shortly after the hour, admiral." The Isle of Man packet ships were hauling the 38^th Infantry Brigade along with HQ staff of the 13^th (Western) Division plus some supplies.

"I cannot believe it is taking so long to sweep those damn mines off Larne!"

"A thorough minesweeping does take time, sir, if one wants to be completely sure that all mines have been removed. And unfortunately for us the Admiralty has made it clear that there are other important areas that require the attention of the available minesweepers right now. Using Londonderry as an alternative though is only mildly inconvenient---"

"---what are you talking about, sailor?" thundered Bayly, "It is a much longer sea route then going from Stavanger to the Larne."

Madden sighed inaudibly. It was now painfully obvious his superior was in an ill humor. He decided not to argue his point, "Uh, you are quite right, sir. I don't rightly know what I was thinking."

"You can say that again," growled Admiral Bayly, "Getting back to the subject of submarines have there been any periscope sightings this morning?"

"No, sir, not a single one."

"Hmm, well the day is still young."

Madden never knew how best to respond to that sort of sardonic cynicism. After several seconds he decided to try to change the topic. "Well, sir, in two more days we shall have Warspite at our disposal. Then we can start planning our next round with Admiral von Ingenohl."

Madden had hoped this might lighten the admiral's sour mood but Bayly wagged a finger, "We are getting a ship whose shakedown was cut down to the bare minimum. You should know better than I that unlike some within the Admiralty Jellicoe felt that a new warship was not fully effective until she had been worked up for several months. We both know that Queen Elizabeth had more than her share of teething problems. For one thing she never did deliver the speed that was expected of her."

"But she did shoot well, admiral, delivering a potent punch. That is what we need the most when we face the Germans again."

Bayly frowned while shaking his head from side to side, "That is only partially true. Putting too great an emphasis on Queen Elizabeth now strikes me as one of our mistakes in the last battle. While it will be good to have Warspite, I shall feel even better when Temeraire returns to us from the yards Thursday. We can then form the fleet into 3 squadrons of six battleships."

"Restructuring the fleet again will take at least another full day to do properly even though we have provisional plans and procedures for that ready to be implemented."

"Yes, which means it will be late Friday before I would be willing to even to consider seeking another fleet action."

"Sir, I would respectfully point out that the Admiralty believes von Spee will try to rendezvous with the High Seas Fleet before then."

"Yes, I think that is bloody likely."

"Uh, the Admiralty would like to prevent that if at all possible."

"Just like Jellicoe tried to do back in February with a much stronger fleet than we have now. You were there, Admiral Madden. How did it go?"

"Uh, not very well, sir."

"Not very well? Well that surely is a masterpiece of understatement! A damn disaster is more like it. It is something I would like very much not to repeat if you don't mind. We will deal with Huns but only when I am good and ready."

------Greystones (Wicklow) 0355 hrs

The first roadblock that the 2^nd company of 4^th Dublin Battalion encountered was at the hamlet of Kilcoole and it was manned by only 6 constables. The Irish Volunteers were able to overcome them easily but one of the constables managed to escape and was able to warn Greystones before the rebels arrived. On the outskirts of Greystones under a dark grey sky with rosy hints of dawn the Irish Volunteers encountered stiff resistance from 34 constables and were driven off. Their acting commandant dispatched a messenger on a bicycle to send word of this setback south to the rest of the company and then on to Brugha at battalion HQ. He then tried to outflank the constables through the hamlet of Delnagy. This let the rebels penetrate into the town itself but then they encountered another force of constables who just arrived from the north in motor vehicles. The rebels shot two constables as they dismounted from their vehicles but the rest were able to prevent them from seizing all of the town.

As the fight raged on for Greystones packets of men belonging to the local company of Irish Volunteers began to come forward to join 4^th Dublin Battalion. These were almost uniformly unarmed and 4^th Dublin had with them only a few spare firearms with which to arm them. The fighting raged on for most of the morning with still more constables arriving from Dublin in motor vehicles. The rebels were eventually forced out of Greystones and pulled back to Delnagy.

------Buigny Ste. Maclou (Picardy) 0500 hrs

At the urgent request of General Plumer,the commander of Second Army, General d'Oissel hurriedly redeployed the XXXVI Corps during the night. The distance involved was only about 4 kilometers but as it involved a change of direction with British soldiers being rotated in to replace them in their prior positions and then taking over their new jumping off from another group of Tommies. This was a taxing maneuver and the rain drenched soil did not make things any easier. Fortunately the liaison with Second Army was handled well and the Frenchmen were in place for an early morning attack, though most of the men had received little if any sleep.

General Foch, the commander of the Western Army Group, had in the last week come to realize just how important the battle being fought by the B.E.F. was. Despite Clemenceau's mounting ire towards the British government, Foch arranged in the last few days for the XXXVI Corps to receive nearly 3,000 replacement troops and to be well stocked with artillery shells. This allowed General d'Oissel the luxury of a fairly long bombardment today. However the problem remained that all he had in the way of artillery was a mixture of 75s and obsolete deBange 90mm guns. As usual these guns did little harm to the German trenches and only occasionally cut a strand of wire. They could suppress German batteries somewhat except the German gunners were in no mood to be suppressed and countered the French bombardment with a much heavier weight of shell. Soon it was the French batteries that were suppressed.

Despite this setback General d'Oissel reluctantly decided to proceed with the planned assault. His main objective was the town of le Plessiel on an important road leading into Abbeville. The assault consisted of 4 battalions each from the 28^th Infantry Division and the 67^th Territorial Division. The French Army at this time was in transition in regards to their uniform. In half of the battalions involved in this assault the men still wore the infamous red pants that had been standard at the beginning of the war. In the other battalions most of the men wore the new horizon blue uniforms. They all still carried the cumbersome haversack. Among the Territorial battalions which had received much less training in its proper use the haversacks had become waterlogged from yesterday's downpour. On their heads the soldiers all wore a kepi. Last Friday the French Army had decided to issue the Adrian helmet to all soldiers but at the insistence of Clemenceau the first delivery of these helmets were all being sent to Second Army.

These soldiers found strong wire barriers insufficiently cut by their bombardment. First shrapnel shells then machineguns tore into their ranks as they struggled with the thick wire. Here and there a Frenchman slipped through the wire and charged the forward trench but this happened too rarely to do much harm to the defenders. The senior French officers recognized the all too familiar signs of a failed attack and before long called this one off as well before the casualties went from bad to horrific.

------north of Ballyneety (Limerick) 0530 hrs

General Wilson the commander of VI Army Corps became deeply upset when he learned of General Hammersley's decision to abandon Ballyneety. Wilson ordered an early morning attack to try to retake it. Likewise both General von Gyssling and Oberst Hell had been surprised when the British had abruptly abandoned their line during the night after stubbornly holding on to it yesterday. A battalion of the 6^th Bavarian Infantry Division moved into Ballyneety at dawn without firing a shot while the Bavarian Jaeger Regiment probed forward on their left. The British batteries now opened fire and the Bavarians inside Ballyneety were again surprised and scrambled for cover while the Jaegers merely hit the dirt. The supporting Bavarian artillery was surprised as well by this. Most of them were in the process of being moved forward to new firing sites when the shelling started and were in no state to duel with the British. Fortunately for the Bavarians General Hammersley continued to worry about the Austro-Hungarians enveloping his left flank and would only commit 10 of his 16 batteries to the bombardment. He was also worried about his supply of shells as he had been expending them more rapidly than he was receiving more so the bombardment was brief.

The British assault on Ballyneety itself was made by 2 battalions with 2 more battalions being sent against the Bavarian Jaeger Regiment and another battalion against the Bavarian position east of the city. The last attack was the most successful as the 6^th Bavarian Division had only a single badly understrength rifle company guarding that area and they quickly fell back before the British attack. The attack on the Bavarian Jaeger Regiment went badly once the Jaegers deployed one of their machinegun companies, something they had become very adept at doing quickly.

The attack on the village of Ballyneety turned out to be a touch and go affair. The Bavarians had set up single strongpoint which had been unharmed by the bombardment. It held off the British attackers while an additional Bavarian battalion arrived as reinforcements. Meanwhile General von Gyssling's artillery which included 2 batteries of 15cm howitzers as well the 6^th Bavarian Field Artillery Brigade had completed their repositioning and were now more than ready to duel with the British batteries. They soon overpowered the British batteries and prevented any more British infantry from reaching the village. This along with continued pressure by the Erzherzog Karl Division on his left flank persuaded General Hammersley to call off the attack and pull his men back to the original start line.

------Laragh (Wicklow) 0540 hrs

The 8^th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles was suffered more than 300 casualties during the Battle of Dublin and last night it suffered 71 more as it advanced on Laragh. After withdrawing to the north its commander had received orders from General Lowe to exert pressure on the enemy forces at Laragh and to determine whether or not they included Hungarian Hussars. Reluctantly he sent a patrol down the Military Road and it came under a hail of rifle fire outside Laragh. The colonel soon realized his battalion would be cut to ribbons if he tried to proceed down the Military Road. Unfortunately this was the only road nearby. He therefore ordered his soldiers off the road even though the terrain was very rough as they were still in a section of the Wicklow Mountains. His men found themselves thoroughly frustrated by the terrain where any hint of so much as a game path was well covered by rebel snipers. The end result was a gradual erosion of the strength of the 8^th Royal Irish Rifles, some of it due to the enemy but some of it also being due to the scrapes, sprains, bruises and fractures endured by the Ulstermen on the steep hills off the road.

As this was going on Rommel arrived along with Pearse. "The British can do nothing here during the day with infantry alone," he told Pearse after carefully observing the combat for several minutes through his binoculars.

"Hmm so what do you think they will do, major?" asked Pearse, "Bring in some artillery or try again after dark?"

Rommel shook his head slightly, "There will be a bright moon if the clouds break up, and even if they don't we demonstrated last night that we can hurt them bad in the dark as well. As for artillery field guns are likely to be ineffective in these rough hills. Howitzers would be a problem but Barry tells me that the British did not leave any artillery he could see in Dublin."

Pearse snorted, "I do not consider Barry to be a particularly reliable source of intelligence."

"I am not so sure. He is a bright lad and alert though with certain bad traits. That devil Flynn for all his faults did appreciate the value of reconnaissance and trained his men well in that regard. However besides a night attack or artillery the British have one other option and that is to send another force down the road to the east in order to take us from behind while this bunch merely holds our attention."

Pearse nodded, "Yes, that is a good point, major. So, should we post a company somewhere around Annamoe?"

Tapping his lips Rommel took his time before replying, "My immediate answer was going to be yes, but the more I think about it there is no reason why 1^st Dublin Battalion alone cannot hold this position with ease even during the night. I am therefore going to personally take 5^th Dublin and 3^rd Kerry to Annamoe but then proceed on further north to make contact with the company of 4^th Dublin I sent to attack Greystones. If Dublin is as weakly held as Barry maintains it should be fairly easy to take Bray as well."

Pearse chuckled loudly provoking Rommel to ask, "And what is so blasted funny in what I just said?"

"You seem to be paying more attention to what Barry has been telling than you are to Count Tisza's orders about guarding Arklow."

Rommel was irritated, "The enemy is thoroughly blocked from advancing through here to Arklow. What I plan to do in the northeastern portion of the county will serve to neutralize a possible enemy thrust along the coast which would very seriously threaten Arklow. It will also serve to keep the enemy off balance."

"If you say so, major. I just wonder if the count will see it that way."

-------east of Przemysl 0600 hrs

For multiple reasons neither Center Army nor the Austro-Hungarian Second Army had attacked yesterday. One reason was the heavy rain through most of the morning. Another was that both armies had run down their stockpile of artillery shells. Lastly General Böhm-Ermolli, the commander of Second Army, wanted to rotate one of his divisions that had suffered heavy losses, out of the line and replace it with a fresh division from his reserves. Late yesterday Center Army had received a large consignment of German shells and a much smaller amount of Austrian ordnance. Second Army had also received a smaller than expected delivery of shells. General von Linsingen, the commander of Center Army had been told that the rate at which the Austrians produced munitions---there was virtually none coming from Hungary---remained modest. He therefore suspected that when it came to ordnance Conrad was temporarily assigning priority to his Fourth Army to support the bridgehead at Jaroslaw. Conrad also had the Third Army in Serbia and the Seventh Army in Bukovina which needed to supply with ammunition.

Böhm-Ermolli had informed von Linsingen around midnight that he would not take part in this morning's attack as the rotation into line of the new division was expected to take the rest of the day, which von Linsingen doubted was the complete story. The German general decided that Center Army would go ahead and attack without Second Army as he did not want the Russian Eleventh Army to have any more time with which to improve its newest entrenchments and possibly receive reinforcements and ammunition.

Center Army began its attack as usual with a sharp bombardment. Initially it was only German howitzers as their ammunition situation was better than the Austro-Hungarian batteries in his mixed army. The German batteries therefore targeted sections of the line that were earmarked for the Austrian as well as German assaults. The Russians batteries tried to respond but were hindered by their shortage of shells. Towards the end of Center Army's bombardment the Austrian batteries joined in along with the minenwerfers and 7.7cm field guns. The end result was heavy losses in the Russian trenches esp. the forward one. The Russian Eleventh Army was still using only a single strand of wire and it was now completely cut in several places. The defending Russian artillery was mostly suppressed though a few batteries did inflict some casualties on the German and Austrian battalions making the assault as did a few machineguns that had survived the bombardment. Bayonets and grenades were needed to finish clearing the forward Russian trench. The attackers captured nearly 3,000 prisoners along with 7 machineguns.

This time the Eleventh Army declined to counterattack the center of the advance, something which had not worked well for them during this offensive. Instead they applied pressure to the flanks of Center Army's advance and concentrated on holding the next trench line. This caused considerable trouble when Center Army tried to continue on to the next Russian trench. The end result was that the fighting continued well into the afternoon. The German II Army Corps had advanced at the maximum 4 kilometers; the Austro-Hungarian V"I Corps only 3 kilometers. So far in Conrad's Galician offensive Center Army had been making considerably better progress than Second Army. Furthermore Russian pressure on both flanks of Center Army caused its progress to be greatest in the center. The net result was that Center Army was slowly carving out a salient in the Russian lines. General von Linsingen was well aware of this and he was also equally aware of both the opportunities and risks it presented.

------Haulbowline naval base (Cork) 0605 hrs

Admiral von Ingenohl reluctantly consented to meet with General von François who had demanded to see him. He soon wished he had refused the request. "This is a risky strategy that you are suggesting, general, both for my fleet and your army."

General von François attempted a disarming smile, "This is only a little further north of where you were originally intending to link up with Admiral von Spee is it not?"

The admiral's nostrils flared as he reluctantly admitted, "That is true."

"So you go a little further north and take a little more time and voila we kill two birds with one stone."

"It will take a lot longer and therein lies the risk for my fleet."

"Some extra time that von Spee and your cruisers could use for additional commerce raiding, yes?"

The admiral shook his head "Which would accomplish next to nothing as Admiral von Spee reports that the seas west of here are nearly deserted."

"How can that be? One of the assumptions of Operation Unicorn was that you would have rich hunting in the so called Western Approaches."

"Well this is not the first assumption of this harebrained operation that has turned out to be deluded, now is it? The British have apparently rerouted their traffic so most of it now avoids the Western Approaches. We also have some intelligence that very few if any British flagged merchantmen are being allowed to leave port recently."

"Hmm this is the first that I have heard of that, admiral, but then again I am pretty isolated out here, yes? But does this not mean that we are having an impact on their trade which is the very lifeblood of their empire, yes?"

Admiral von Ingenohl's scowl deepened and he waited a few seconds before replying, "A small temporary effect. Once this fleet is back in Germany where it belongs, the British will be able to use at least their western ports again in relative safety."

The general was not surprised by this. He had known for some time that von Ingenohl considered Operation Unicorn to be the height of folly and wanted to return to Germany as soon as possible even if it meant being berated by Tirpitz about the Battle of the Celtic Sea. What the general was now proposing delayed that return. Hopefully not that much he said to himself though admittedly that will depend to some degree on the Irish. "I will send a wireless message to OKW about my plan if you deny request. I have every confidence that they will support me in this matter but it would be better if we could resolve this without bothering them."

The admiral reddened and glared at the general but did not immediately respond. I have heard that the 'German Nelson' here is already in trouble with Tirpitz over the Reichstag speech and the Battle of Celtic Sea thought von François Does he really want to make things worse?

Finally von Ingenohl answered through a clenched jaw, "That will not be necessary, general. Our time would be better served if we plan this little operation of yours so that it presents the least risk to my fleet. It will have some impact on the rendezvous with the Atlantic Squadron. It will probably delay the arrival of the so called 'third wave' at least a few hours."

"I can live with that, admiral."

------Dessie (Abyssinia) 0640 hrs

The rain had tapered off after midnight but had not stopped completely. General Lee's expeditionary force began withdrawing at first light. An hour later his ally, the Abyssinian rebels, started to do likewise. Meanwhile Iyasu's forces were preparing themselves to fight off another attack. That attack never came and with visibility still being impeded by the weather it was not clear to them what the enemy was doing. Ras Mikael soon sent out patrols, first small bands of light infantry then larger groups of Orome horsemen. Eventually he realized that the enemy was withdrawing back on the road leading towards Gondar. He knew his son would insist on a pursuit and ordered his army to do just that.

In accord with General Lee's instructions Zauditu's forces retreated at a slower pace than they were capable of. Once it became clear that they were being pursued horns were blown. At this prearranged signal they turned about to meet Iyasu's army. During the false withdrawal General Lee had repositioned his two batteries to cover the most direct route of enemy pursuit. Iyasu's troops had run beyond the support of their own artillery. The British batteries opened up. They inflicted considerable losses but they were too few to completely halt the attack. Furthermore contrary to Lee's instructions the Abyssinian rebels did not hold their ground but now advanced to engage their pursuers. General Lee had also wanted to position most of his machine guns as well but it had proven hard to set them up where they had clear line of sight due to the mass of Zauditu's soldiers. Only three were able to open fire on Iyasu's men. They too inflicted losses but were unable to halt the attack.

Soon the two masses of Africans converged into a relatively a short range firefight, which prevented the British artillery and machineguns from participating. Iyasu's men had superior quality rifles which nearly all the rifles of Zauditu's soldiers were old single shot black powder rifles. This along with the overall superior training of Iyasu's men tipped the balance. Fitawrari Hapte Giorgis eventually saw this and ordered his men to charge the enemy to attack hand to hand. Many were shot as they approached out of the cloud of blackpowder smoke that had formed but Iyayu's men were not proficient enough with their rifles to stop the charge completely. Eventually the melee that Hapte Giorgis sought came to pass. He was convinced that morale was shaky amongst Iyaku's followers and that it would crack and break in hand to combat. This theory was soon disproved for while there were some men on both sides who were reluctant to fight their fellow Abyssinians there were more who did so with zeal. Neither side held a significant advantage in morale. Iyasu's forces did have superiority in numbers though initially the rough terrain which funneled the fight into the road made it very difficult to utilize this advantage. The end result was attrition with a growing pile of bodies from each side.

Meanwhile General Lee was desperately trying to find an effective way to use his AngloIndian battalions to tip the balance. He too was disappointed that the morale of Iyasu's followers did not seem to be unraveling as rapidly as expected. There was also disturbing signs that Ras Mikael was now bringing up his own artillery though mud was slowing this process. The strength of the Abyssinian artillery had been a rude shock to General Lee yesterday and while neither their accuracy nor rate of fire was up to European standards it was still sufficiently competent to do their grave harm to his expedition provided they had enough ammunition. Lee ordered his battery of 15 pounders repositioned to a spot where they might be able to shell the Abyssinian guns as they were being moved forward.

This tactic worked initially but in the meantime morale was beginning to show signs of cracking but it was amongst the rebels loyal to Zauditu. In addition to having superior numbers on this battlefield nearly half of Iyasu's troops were permanent soldiers of the Abyssinian Army who usually were better trained and more disciplined than their opponents. General Lee tried to coordinate a way with Hapte Giorgis to get his men into the action but that was not proving easy. Complicating things a new storm front moved in. As the mass of indigo clouds approached the battlefield there was a wall of water pouring down from it accompanied by thunder and lightning. When the downpour reached the battle it interfered with the fighting and the two sides started to disengage. More than 200 wounded men drowned to death in the rain.

The two armies separated. By the time General Lee finally squeezed one of his Indian battalions to the forefront of Zauditu's soldiers, Ras Mikael had withdrawn his own men out of rifle range back onto the high ground. Neither Lee nor Hapte Giorgis thought chasing after the enemy was a good idea esp. in the pouring rain. They took care of their wounded and huddled in their tents. The dead would be buried when the rain let up. Meanwhile the general and the fitawrari pondered their options.

------Gorey (Wexford) 0705 hrs

The 8^th Battalion Devonshire had doggedly pursued the fleeing Wexford Battalion steadily nibbling away at them. As this pursuit reached the town of Gorey the Erzherzog Karl Hussar Regiment arrived and tried to rally the fleeing Irish Volunteers. The sight of the Hussars who had rescued Wexford Battalion in nearly the same place a few days earlier did serve to steady the nerves of most of the panic stricken Irishmen. One overly eager Hussar squadron commander thought he saw an opportunity to make a cavalry charge against the British infantry but the enemy reacted quicker than expected and their rapid rifle fire nearly wiped out the Hussar squadron. The rest of the Hussars more prudently chose to fight dismounted alongside the Irish Volunteers. The Hussars' machinegun troop again proved invaluable in helping to repel the initial attack of the Devonshires on the town which was a close run affair as some of the Irish Volunteers did panic.

After that attack the 8^th Devonshire tried to flank the rebels at Gorey but the Hussars kept a close watch on them and harassed them when they were in column. When the Devonshires to attacked from the west Count Tisza was able to pivot both Wexford Battalion and his Hussars quickly and effectively to counter it. After that failure the 8^th Battalion Devonshire licked its wounds while sending out strong patrols which invariably resulted in skirmishes with the Magyars.

Count Tisza did not see an effective way to seize the initiative as he had sustained heavier losses than expected. He sent a rider off to Arklow ordering the squadron he left there under Schumacher's command to now come an rejoin his regiment which the count believed need reinforcement.

------HQ British Second Army Toeufles (Picardy) 0815 hrs

"So nothing has happened all morning?" asked Field Marshal Sir John French in a skeptical voice over the telephone, "I mean other than d'Oissel's failed attack."

"That is essentially correct, field marshal," replied General Plumer, the commander of Second Army, "Oh, the Germans did send out some small bombing parties against our trenches before first light. But that has been it. Their guns have remained silent. It is something of a mystery. Maybe they needed to regroup for some reason before resuming their attack. Unfortunately due to the severe shortage of petrol we were only able to send two airplanes aloft this morning and the weather hampered their reconnaissance. So we suffer from a paucity of information right now, sir."

"Ugh. I have been trying to get Foch to provide us with more petrol but it is to no avail," French lamented, "He says that the entire French Army is dreadfully short on the stuff as well right now and it is starting to limit how much their own airplanes can fly as well as immobilizing their motor trucks and ambulances."

"I was not aware of that, sir."

"Clemenceau has begun seizing commercial petrol to serve military needs but he realizes that is a stopgap measure and is not inclined to share it with us."

"Well sir, in that case I do hope that a right decent amount petrol is included in those supplies we shall be receiving from England later today."

"Yes, it is. I made doubly sure that the bright boys back in London were made aware of our most urgent needs. Now be aware that the Admiralty has warned us that there could well be another hiatus after today's convoy so we can ill afford to go hog wild with what we receive today. That includes petrol as well as ammunition. Keeping our airplanes flying will take precedence over using our buses."

"Yes, field marshal, we definitely need to set some priorities---at least until a regular dependable flow of supplies is restored."

"Getting back to your tactical situation, do not let this unexpected quietude lull you into complacency. I firmly believe that an all out assault on Abbeville is inevitable but maybe d'Oissel's attack this morning was partially successful as a spoiling attack, disrupting the Germans' plans. Even though they failed to gain any ground they may have gained us some precious hours maybe even a whole day."

------SMS Prinz Heinrich Western Approaches 0825 hrs

The old armored cruiser which had become part of von Spee's Atlantic Squadron now captured an 870 ton schooner with mixed propulsion out of Freetown bound for Glasgow hauling cocoa. This was the only prize that the entire Atlantic Squadron captured all morning. Admiral Maas decided she was not worth keeping and ordered her sunk.

------HQ German Eleventh Army Elektranai (Lithuania) 0845 hrs

Oberst Marquard, the chief of staff of the Eleventh Army approached his commander, General von Mackensen, "Your Excellency, our wireless section has just received excellent news from the 5^th Cavalry Division. It claims to have linked up with the 9^th Cavalry Division. This means that the line of communications for the Russian forces at Vilna has been severed. They are effectively encircled."

This news pleased the general, but he was not ecstatic. "Yes, yes, but this ring is fragile. The Russian strength at Vilna is more than enough to allow them to escape by blasting their way through our cavalry if they so choose," he admitted with some reluctance. He was a former cavalryman and one of the things that depressed him about the current war was the many limitations of cavalry it had highlighted, though here on the Eastern Front it still demonstrated some utility.

Marquard nodded, "That is correct, Your Excellency, but if they choose to take that path then they must abandon Vilna quickly. As we speak the II Bavarian Corps is enveloping Vilna from the south and VIII Army Corps from the northwest. Soon they will form an inner ring of infantry around Vilna to supplement the outer ring formed by the cavalry and when that happens the Russian forces still inside Vilna will be trapped."

"As Vilna is a supply center the trapped forces can draw on it will take too long for us to starve them into surrendering. We must anticipate that Stavka will mount a relief force of considerable strength before long. This is indeed a problem but also a potential opportunity if we handle it correctly. We must resist the temptation to try to resolve the issue at Vilna with a hasty premature assault. We shall instead grind them down with our heavy artillery. The defenders seem to possess nothing heavier than Putilov field guns."

"That is correct, Your Excellency, and I am happy to report that the Motorized Heavy Artillery Brigade now has at least one battery of 21cm Mörsers within range of Vilna. I do feel compelled to point out that until we take Vilna we cannot penetrate much deeper into Russia so while haste presents one problem an overly long struggle there could also deny us opportunities."

"I understand that, but there is no overwhelming reason for us to advance any further right now. This motorized artillery brigade has proven its worth but it is very dependent on a steady supply of petrol and has been plagued by breakdowns lately some of which are the result of the poor quality of roads out here---something which will only get worse if we advance further. General von Seeckt has repeatedly stated that he wants to force the enemy to come to us and I believe that we have now forced their hand."

British battalions had 4 rifle companies and section with 2 machineguns (either Maxim or Vickers) at the beginning of the war and this establishment was soon increased to 4 but this increase was given first to the regular divisions and then later to territoral force. In fall of 1915 the British Army start employing Lewis guns.

Count Tisza is holding on at Gorey but he is under considerable pressure.

The usual source I had for many blank WWI maps is no longer avalable.

Eleventh Army does form a salient with the tip a little bit east of Vilna. The German Eleventh Army cannot advance further until Vilna falls.

There were 2 sectors of East Prussia occupied by Russia at the beginning of May. The German Eighth Army has liberated the section occupied by Russian Tenth Army. The other piece which is occupied by Russian Twelfth Army actually increased slightly when von Plehve attacked.

Bayly prefers Warspite and Temeraire to Warspite alone ie. he will not consider another fleet action until he has both.

Part of the reason the German Sixth Army is not trying to advance on Abbeville right away was given in May 22 Part III. Another part is the counterattack by the French XXXVI Corps did preoccupy the Germans some.